​The NEXPReS project

The challenge

To improve astronomical techniques by eliminating the distinction between traditional disk-based Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) and real-time electronic VLBI (e-VLBI) techniques.

Through new data caching, network storage, cloud correlation and bandwidth on demand techniques, NEXPReS's goal was to bring together the reliability and robustness of VLBI with the speed and flexibility of e-VLBI for every observation conducted by the European VLBI Network (EVN).

The solution

Research networks such as GÉANT and its NREN partners have been a key part of the project's success. e-VLBI simply cannot be carried out without the power of research networks, as it relies on high speed, reliable connections between telescopes around Europe (and beyond) and JIVE in the Netherlands.

​T. Charles Yun, NEXPReS project manager said: “Long term collaboration has been vital, "It is important that R&E networks have cooperated with radio astronomy over long periods so that we can learn what technologies are coming and influence future work and participate in its development."

Key benefits

Through close collaboration with research networks and astronomers NEXPReS has succeeded in providing the best of both worlds – the immediacy of e-VLBI and the stability of recorded VLBI, improving our ability to study the universe around us.Looking further ahead, the lessons learned from NEXPReS will inform the planned Square Kilometre Array (SKA), the world's largest and most sensitive radio telescope.

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